In current Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, when multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) is not in use, a download (DL) media access control (MAC) transport block (TB) in a unicast service is specific to each individual user equipment (UE.) That is, the data of a MAC TB is destined for one UE only, then multiple streams or data connections are required to service multiple UEs since each UE requires an individual connection form the network. Additionally, the physical (PHY) layer overhead in a wireless communications network associated with transferring a UE-specific MAC TB may include physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signaling/configuration, such as cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), downlink control information (DCI) format, etc. Individually serviced UEs require physical layer overhead for each UE, significantly burdening a wireless communications system, particularly when the same data is being transmitted to multiple UEs
MBMS supports multicast/broadcast services in a cellular system that is complementary to the traditional unicast, or individualized one-to-one service. With MBMS, the same content is transmitted to multiple users located in a specific area (MBMS service area), which typically includes multiple cells. In each cell participating in the transmission, a point-to-multipoint radio resource is configured and all users subscribing to the MBMS service simultaneously receive the same transmitted signal. No tracking of users' movements in the radio-access network is performed and users can receive the content without notifying the network. When MBMS is in use, the same MAC TB is received over multicast traffic channel (MTCH) by all UEs subscribed to the service.